Watch the Trailer for Far From the Madding Crowd

Thomas Hardy is having something of a renaissance in 2015. Already getting the dubious shout out from E L James in this past weekend’s Fifty Shades of Grey, a thoroughly more iconic and gripping character study of a young woman pursued to dangerous ends by an older, rich gentleman is making its way to the big screen with this new adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s Far From the Madding Crowd. And quite frankly, no matter what, it must be a step up.

In the new Far From the Madding Crowd trailer, audiences will meet Bathsheba Everdene (Carey Mulligan), a fiery young woman that attracts three men into her orbit, despite having almost no time for any of them. One would-be lover is the humble but honest Gabriel Oak (Matthias Schoenaerts), a sheep farmer; there’s also the handsome if callow Sgt. Frank Troy (Tom Sturridge); and finally exists a prosperous if older bachelor, William Boldwood (Michael Sheen).

Exploring the nature of relationships, love, obsession, and menace, Far From the Madding Crowd has been oft adapted, yet this time comes from a director who is no stranger to the darker side of human nature, The Hunt’s Thomas Vinterberg.

Far From the Madding Crowd opens May 1, 2015.